Ones To Watch - How Did We Do ?

It’s almost December. Which means it’s time for a look back as well as a look forward. Over the next month we’ll be blogging our way through our favourite ten albums of the year as well as listing ten artists that we believe could be ones to watch in 2010.

In a change from 2008 we’re going to start with a look forward. The reason being that last year just as we began publishing our list of Ones To Watch the BBC went and published their Sound of 2009 list earlier than normal. To our surprise six of the artists we had chosen were in the BBC’s long list of fifteen. So this year to avoid any criticism of just copying the BBC list we’re making sure our list appears early. Mind you this year we actually had a tiny influence over the BBC list as we were asked by the BBC to be one of the participating voters in their Sound of 2010 poll. We're not sure how many bloggers get asked to participate, we know of at least one other (a list of those who voted will appear on the BBC website soon) but we guess it's a bit of an honour, effectively being recognised as having some degree of expertise in new music. The three artists we voted for in the BBC poll feature in our own list of ten, but we'll leave you to see if you can guess which three we voted for.

Not that we expect all of our list to be the same as the BBC list, particularly as some artists such as Marina and the Diamonds, who we fully expect to be on the BBC list, don't qualify for our list (read next Mondays blog for our explanation of why).

But before the gate opens, let’s have a quick recap of our Ones To Watch 2009 list and see how they fared.

#1 La Roux

We said “What sets her apart from a multitude of dance floor kids is a pop sensibility that knows how to deliver a half decent tune.”

In For The Kill became a genuine pop phenomenon, slowly climbing from number 11 to number 2 in the singles chart, whilst Bulletproof went one better. The eponymous debut album went to number 2 in the UK, 7 in Ireland and 8 in Canada.

#2 Little Boots

We said “Little Boots is exactly what we want our pop stars to be.”

Little Boots topped the BBC Sound of List but failed to capitalise on its exposure, finally releasing the very average New in Town in May which went top 20. The album Hands entered the charts at number 5 but quickly fell away, only re-entering the lower reaches of the Top 40 when the far superior Remedy was released as a single. The initial quirky charm that we heard on Stuck On Repeat and saw on her bedroom You Tube cover versions seemed somewhat diluted by the end of the year, but if her record company keep going with her we still think there is possible unfulfilled potential.

#3 Passion Pit

We said “They will bring a lot of smiles, and if there is any justice Sleepyhead will be one of the songs of next year in the UK.”

Sleepyhead was never released as a major label single in its own right in the UK, (there is no justice) and although the band didn‘t achieve commercial highs, their debut album Manners received much critical acclaim and charted at number 55. The band grew as a live act during the course of the year, playing bigger shows as the year progressed, plus there were several festival appearances including the main stage at Bestival.

#4 Giantess

We said “It’s very early days for this band but Breaking More Waves reckons their Myspace friend count will soon be on the way up.”

The band renamed themselves Yes Giantess, put out a white vinyl 7" single, supported Little Boots in the U.S and were picked to play on the NME Radar Tour in the UK in October. They’ve recently been recording with a number of big name producers including Pascal Gabriel (Ladyhawke, Dido, Little Boots, Kylie) in France and have had some major label interest. In November one of their number (Karl) announced he was to leave the band, his parting gift a superb downloadable mix tape. Yes Giantess continue into 2010. Their Myspace friend count has indeed risen significantly since we first wrote about the band and they have a bag of big tunes ready to go including that hooky as hell No Reason.

#5 White Lies

We said “Have potential to be a commercial success.”

The bands debut album went to number 1 in the UK and White Lies have played many big gigs and festivals including Glastonbury, T in the Park and Reading and Leeds. Personally for Breaking More Waves our opinion is that the album was too contrived and weakened by schoolboy lyrics.

#6 Skint and Demoralised

We said “No doubt many young lasses will fall for him.”

If they young ladies did fall for Skint and Demoralised they forgot to buy his records. The single Red Lipstick picked up some Radio 1 play but come October the record company had ditched plans to release a further single or the album that was ready to go. Matt Skint got his hair cut and started presenting football reviews on You Tube. In February our review of his poorly attended live show at Brighton Audio commented that it was only when he dropped the music and delivered an anti BNP poem without a microphone that he came into his own and that “Maybe this is where his future lies.”

#7 Alessi’s Ark

We said “Unlikely to find huge commercial pop success, but is certainly an act to be championed.”

As predicted Alessi didn’t find huge commercial pop success, but her album Notes From The Treehouse was an endearing and sweet record. At the time we described the record as having “A sense of music wonder and magic.”

#8 Florence And The Machine

We said “An exciting proposition.”

Florence exceeded our expectations, her album Lungs being a triumph musically and it attained significant commercial success, remaining at number 2 in the album charts for five weeks, held off the top spot only by Michael Jackson. Her live shows became more focussed and as a result got better and better, with her performances at Camp Bestival and Brighton Concorde being two of our favourite gigs of the year.

#9 Mumford and Sons

We said “Will warm you deep inside.”

Mumford and Sons profile grew slowly over the course of the year. They proved that the old fashioned virtues of playing great gigs and having good songs will deliver you a loyal fan base. The band signed to Island Records and the subsequent release of their debut album, Sigh No More, at the start of October, saw the band hit number 11 in the UK charts. Not bad for a folk / bluegrass act. Bellies were warmed.

#10 Marina and the Diamonds

We said “This maverick cat has already ruffled a few feathers with her blogs on Myspace, which she has now removed declaring that she will never open her mouth again.”

Marina has released two critically acclaimed singles on the Neon Gold label and has now signed a major record deal with 679/Warners, releasing Mowgli's Road in November. An album is due for the early part of 2010. She back tracked on her promise of keeping her mouth shut and has a fully functioning, active, entertaining blog.

Now let's move on up.

It's almost time for this years Ones To Watch list. On the 30th November we shall explain our criteria for selection and rules of engagement. Then on the 1st December enjoy our musical advent calender as we reveal who our Ones To Watch are, each act hiding behind a different musical door on the countdown to Christmas. This will the be swiftly followed by our Top Ten albums of the year list and then, well, that's pretty much it till next year except for a few random articles that we have floating around that we haven't yet posted following our 'one blog a day' rule. Go !

Pop - A Dirty Word ? Breaking More Waves Says No !

So there you have it. Over the last 20 days or so we presented the Breaking More Waves Top 10 albums of this year and set out who we suspect may be rocking boats on UK shores in 2009.

As we said in a previous blog, 2009 is not so easy to call in terms of One’s To Watch as 2008 was. Even an act like Florence and the Machine, with her Brit Critics Award and NME tour slot is not guaranteed any success. In 2008 acts such as Duffy and Adele with big voices and big songs were easy to spot, having a broad mainstream appeal that were guaranteed to shift units. In 2009 there are no such obvious acts and therefore more risk for record companies. With financial global armegeddon striking all around us and illegal downloading becoming the norm for many, music sales are becoming an endangered species. The risks for record companies in developing and selling new artists has never been greater.

All of the acts listed in the Breaking More Waves Ones To Watch list, and several others that just missed our Top 10 have one simple thing in common however. The power of the song. Irrespective of musical genre, from the bluegrass of Mumford and Sons to the disco of Little Boots, each of these acts produce something distinctively melodic. In a way all of the 10 artists listed are pop, in the true sense of the word; they write songs that are engaging, memorable and melodic, irrespective of genre. Pop music continues to be a melting pot that borrows and assimilates elements and ideas from a wide range of musical styles and it is for this reason that Breaking More Waves will continue to be excited about a range of acts, not just one genre. This blog does not have a singular vision. It’s good to be all over the place, variety keeps things interesting.

Breaking More Waves has long held the view that pop does not just have to mean airbrushed vacuous acts formed and directed by record companies and TV shows. Pop is bigger than that. The Killers, Prince, Amy Winehouse, The Cure and Blur at their best are all great pop acts. Pop does not have to be a dirty word.

This does not mean however that Breaking More Waves will just be covering pop bands, even within our broad definition of pop. Other exciting noise makers exist out there that do not conform to pop structures. These artists very rarely break into the mainstream, and gazing into our crystal ball we cannot see many doing so in 2009, however where they excite us or engage us Breaking More Waves will be writing about them as well.

Ultimately it’s about music. Pop or non pop. Melodic or not. If we like. We write. If we don’t, we probably won’t.

And as we said back in our very first blog, we reserve the right to contradict ourselves. Remember, we do not have a singular vision. We reserve the right to change our minds. We reserve the right to be fluid and to not be constrained by pre conceived ideas. We repeat, we do not have singular vision. That is the beauty of music. It can take you anywhere.

Tomorrow, it takes us to Brighton !

Marina and the Diamonds - Ones To Watch 2009

Breaking More Waves final one to watch for 2009 is Marina and the Diamonds. Blogged previously here, this maverick cat has already ruffled a few feathers with her blogs on Myspace, which she has now removed declaring that she is never opening her mouth again. These blogs ranted against various other female artists and celebrity culture. “I'm really sick, tired, depressed, uninspired by women," she wrote. "Vacant. Airbrushed. Empty. People. Getting. Paid. To talk. About fuck all. It's great that Eva Longoria looks hot in a bikini, but if the sun dies and the world plummets into darkness and ice, will anyone fucking care?" It seems that Marina has opinions, but has already decided that expressing them over the internet may not help her.

But enough of Marina’s rants, what about the music ? Well no doubt there will be comparisons with some of the artists that she ranted about on her blog as the industry looks for the next Allen / Nash or other female singer with her own mind who doesn’t conform to X Factor stereotypes. Her 6 track bedroom demo entitled Mermaid vs. Sailor showed some promise with its left of centre basic Regina Spektor meets Nina Hagen type leanings, particularly on the first two songs Seventeen and Horror Pop with its refrain of “You are a horror you are the same same same horoscope as me.” Since this demo her songs have evolved and improved and on February 14th Marina and the Diamonds will release their debut single Obsessions through a label that Breaking More Waves can’t get enough of at the moment - Neon Gold. The single has been produced with ex Sneaker Pimps man Liam Howe who has also written with Sophie Ellis-Bextor in the past, and with a deal signed Marina may well be on the way up.

Here is the video to the single.

Mumford and Sons - Ones To Watch 2009

Mumford and Sons are the sound of American post war folk, bluegrass and country music with a certain timeless quality. Yet they are from London and it seems that their time is now.

Having shared the live stage with Laura Marling where members of the band have provided backing, the group are now stepping out on their own with a melancholy and mournful sound that comes fully formed and note perfect. With two singles released through the Chess Club label, it would seem a natural progression for this band to go onwards and upwards, and when an album is finally released it would be no surprise to see it on the Mercury Award nominations list. They are that kind of act.

Lead singer and multi instrumentalist Marcus Mumford has a raw tender almost broken feel to his voice, slightly reminiscent of Dave Mathews, which adds significant weight to the words he sings. On the fearful Roll Away Your Stone he croons “Don’t leave me alone at this time, for I am afraid of what I will discover inside,” and you cannot help but shudder with the thought of looming darkness. His voice is backed by pitch perfect four part harmonies which combine with a masculine togetherness to provide a soundtrack that almost pacifies their old time instruments such as banjo and double bass.

Mumford and Sons carry buckets of elegant rabble rousing soul that will warm you deep inside, and therefore easily find a place on Breaking More Waves One’s To Watch list for 2009. Here's the song White Blank Page.

Florence And The Machine - Ones To Watch 2009

The typical first timer reaction after attending a Florence and the Machine gig tends to be “She’s stark raving bonkers.” This is because Florence Welch is a firework on stage. Once she is lit she explodes with a frenzy of primitive energy and ferocious colour, making her look like Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud crazier sister. Past glories have seen her jumping fully clothed into a swimming pool at a gig at the South by South West Festival in Texas, play fighting with her keyboardist with attempts to rip the clothes off her, and stomping around stage with a lack of poise and co-ordination that is drunkenly refreshing. Combining this type of performance with an expressive bluesy shriek of a vocal far removed from her talking voice and small frame makes Florence and the Machine an exciting proposition.

Discovered by one of the Queens of Noise, Florence has busied herself in 2008 releasing two well received singles, Kiss With A Fist and Dog Days, both through Moshi Moshi and lighting that firework around stages in the UK. In 2009 things step up a gear with a debut album produced by James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco, who has previously worked with Klaxons and Arctic Monkeys. Florence has described the recording as sounding like "A choir, a harp, some metal chains and a piano all put through a car crusher, then hit with wooden planks really hard." There's also the new artist critics award at the Brits (won by Adele last year) which she is due to pick up. She will also be on the so called bottom of the bill ‘lucky’ slot on the NME tour which has previously been filled by bands such as Kaiser Chiefs, Coldplay, The Coral and Franz Ferdinand. However it’s also easy to forget that the slot has also been filled by Mumm- Ra and Fluffy, so the ‘lucky’ tag does not always ring true.

However in Florence’s case Breaking More Waves feels that Florence And The Machine are more likely to be a commercial success than a failure, such is the star quality of Florence herself, although that ‘bonkers’ tag may be a little too much for a wide mainstream audience.

Alessi's Ark - Ones To Watch 2009

Having featured here on Breaking More Waves twice in the last two months, we feel compelled to place Alessi's Ark in our One’s To Watch list.

Alessi Laurent-Marke is unlikely to find huge commercial pop success, but is certainly an act that deserves to be championed. Her sweet ethereal childlike vocal and delicate dreamlike country-folk pop songs may find a place in the hearts of those who like vocalists such as Joanna Newsom and Junaita Stein of the Howling Bells, but also enjoy much of the current wave of new folk pop such as Noah and The Whale and Laura Marling. Another reference point is Bright Eyes, members of which Alessi has recorded with.

Alessi’s music is the kind of music that would work equally well on a cold autumn night wrapped up in blankets around a warm camp fire or when staring out at the first mists of a spring day. It has a natural and organic feel that bodes well for an entrancing wide eyed love affair of an album. She has recently released The Horse EP, of which the lead song clocking in a just 2 minutes is the highlight. An album Notes From The Treehouse is due for release in 2009.

Alessi has a blog. It’s called The Brain Bulletin. It contains pictures, video, music and snapshots of her world. Have a look.

Here is a live version of The Horse.

Skint and Demoralised - Ones To Watch 2009

Breaking More Waves sixth One To Watch for 2009 is Matt Abbott aka Skint and Demoralised. Matt is a man who claims that on his Christmas list this year he would quite like Sarah Harding, Cheryl Tweedy, Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh and Nadine Coyle. C’mon Matt, all five of Girls Aloud is just a little greedy don’t you think ? And besides you are probably a little too young for them, after all, you are still a teenager. Breaking More Waves would still quite like Nicola, if she is going spare, but then we are certainly too old for the red haired miserable one.

Much championed by Steve Lamacq, who named Skint and Demoralised as his third favourite new act of this year, and blogged by Breaking More Waves at the time of release of his debut single The Thrill Of Thirty Seconds, which sold out almost immediately, you can catch him on tour early in 2009. His music is a chirpy poppy blend of jangling guitars indie disco drums and northern soul reference points not dissimilar to The Smiths with dry spoken word vocals delivered in a dry Yorkshire tone. Despite Matt's slightly long haired laddish look, his extract from a diary poems are sweet in their nature and no doubt many young lass will fall for him. An album Love and Other Catastrophe’s is due to follow.

White Lies - Ones To Watch 2009

White Lies produce white boy gloomy indie rock with obvious reference points of Editors, Joy Division, Interpol, Simple Minds, Psychedelic Furs and Echo And The Bunnymen. They’ve been around for almost a year now, having played their first gig in London last February and signing a record deal just a month later. Formed from the remnants of the not particularly good Fear Of Flying, White Lies are a more attractive proposition than their previous form. This is a band who music marketing men can salivate over, such is the ease of knowing their position in the market. It’s very much a defined genre. However those marketing men must also be a little nervous. For in marketing terms what is White Lies unique selling point ?

However, maybe White Lies can destroy marketing theory and show that a unique selling point is irrelevant. As we approach the end of the noughties there is no truly original music anymore. Every note, every sound has been done before, with every artist referencing something from the past. As we look back over this decade, it’s musical identity will not be defined by particular movements such as acid house, psychedelic or punk, but by the way music is made, distributed and consumed. This was the decade where the internet revolutionised music, rather than music revolutionising on its own merits.

So if this sounds harshly critical of White Lies for not producing something incredibly inventive or original, it is not criticism of just White Lies, but virtually every other new band out there as well.

White Lies are included in this One’s To Watch list for a number of reasons. First, what they do, they do very well. Gloomy, cinematic music, neatly polished with a stadium sheen. Second, at this moment in time they are one of very few bands of their genre out there that are floating Breaking More Waves boat. Previous singles Death and Unfinished Business are both dramatic pieces of intensity with melodic hooks that engage. Finally, despite their darker sound, White Lies certainly have potential to be a commercial success both in the UK and worldwide. With backing from Fiction records, currently home to the likes of Snow Patrol, Elbow and Kate Nash they may achieve it. As the band say themselves, the reason for their name is because “White lies are common but quite dark, and that's how we see ourselves. We want to make our way into people's lives, but there's a dark undertone to what we do.”

Giantess - Ones To Watch 2009

Although for the second year running Breaking More Waves finds a large number of its One’s To Watch on the BBC Sound Of 2009 List, Giantess are a band that have yet to crop up significantly on many people’s radar, particularly in the UK. In fact Giantess are so new that at this moment in time they only have 210 friends on their Myspace page and played only their second ever gig in November.

They are another one of the crop of bands that continues to thrust sexily out from Boston, Massachusetts, and will soon put out their debut single Deceptive Man on Neon Gold in the US.

The people at Neon Gold are putting out some of the coolest of records right now, including yesterdays darlings Passion Pit and one more of Breaking More Waves future One's To Watch, which we have not yet named. The band have also been recording their debut album which they have described as sounding like what would happen if C+C Music Factory high-fived Michael Jackson in midair, with less "ooh baby's" and more "hey ladies." Fantastic.

Giantess bring washes of epic synths and handclaps with retro 80’s attitude to an indie dance floor and make them sound cool again. They sound so now, so fruitily disco. This four piece strut their funky attitude with their killer tune Tuff ‘n Stuff, which sounds like a mash up of Cameo, Jean Michel Jarre and Chromeo, as their lead singer flirts “I just want to say that you’re beautiful, your looking incredible, girl your making everybody’s day.”

It’s very early days for this band, but Breaking More Waves reckons their My Space friend count may soon be on the way up.

Here is the only video of the band in action that seems to be available at this moment in time

Passion Pit - Ones To Watch 2009

The off kilter swirling pop of Passion Pit has been the talk of the blogosphere for some months now. Breaking More Waves has been at it, raving about them at the start of November, and elsewhere somewhat exaggerated claims of them being the future of music have been heard. All this before they have released anything in the UK.

But times are about to change and now that the band have signed to Columbia it looks like the Chunk of Change EP is finally going to get an official release on these shores in February. Of course the EP has been on I Tunes for some time and has been blasting from the Breaking More Waves stereo, but the physical release will get their tunes out to UK radio and a wider audience.

The band also have a UK support slot with Black Kids on their NME Show at Koko, London in February and will be playing at the South By South West Festival in Austin Texas in March.

To follow up the EP, the band have been spending time in the studio recording their debut album which they are writing a blog about . If the results of these recordings are anything as good as the distorted falsetto vocals, delirious devilish samples and deranged tunes such as Sleepyhead, I’ve Got Your Number and Cuddle Fuddle from the EP, the album should be a trippy electronic extravaganza for those who enjoy the mixed up dance floor fun of The Avalanches and The Go Team as well as the vocal stylings of bands such as Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev and MGMT.

Expect high larynx histrionics from Passion Pit in 2009. They will bring a lot of smiles, and if there is any justice Sleepyhead will be one of the songs of next year in the UK. We posted the video on our last blog about the band, but the video is so good we are posting it again here.

Little Boots - Ones To Watch 2009

Breaking More Waves second choice of artists to watch in 2009 is Victoria Hesketh aka Little Boots.

Whilst the UK music scene may not have any one overriding trend or scene at the moment, there are quite of few of these shiny disco ball belles bouncing around at the moment, yesterdays artist La Roux being one and Little Boots being another. She is without question the best. This lady brings technology and the dance floor to the top of the agenda, melting out any other business before it has even started.

Little Boots is exactly what Breaking More Waves wants our pop stars to be. She’s fifty per cent cool, gaining rave reviews in a whole variety of dance and fashion magazine’s, and fifty per cent geek, posting up videos of herself doing cover versions in her bedroom. With her tenorian, keytar and stylophone as pieces of kit used to create her music, and odd, sexy, innocent looks, she’ll probably soon have a whole bunch of geeky glasses wearing male science students queuing at her door.

As a live performer Little Boots is already extremely confident and accomplished as Breaking More Waves recently witnessed at a recent London gig. Furthermore, there is no Xenomania song writing team behind her, just a whole batch of quirky catchy songs that she writes herself. With Joe Goddard from Hot Chip on board to help with production, it seems that Victoria will soon be stepping out to trample whatever is in her way.

But lurking beneath the synth pop disco sound, there is a real talent who fulfils those old fashioned ideals of being able to write, play and sing.

Pop music has a new heroine come to save us from the evil of X Factor. Save us Little Boots, save us !

Here's a video that shows Victoria in a more acoustic reflective mood, stripping things back to the core with an almost Kate Bush like version of Stuck On Repeat.

La Roux - Ones To Watch 2009

The first of two cyber disco ladies on Breaking More Waves one’s to watch list for 2009 is La Roux. Elfin faced Tilda Swinton lookalike Elly Jackson is big on the synths and big on the beats. But what sets her apart from a multitude of dance floor kids is a pop sensibility that knows how to deliver a half decent tune. With a big 80’s influence that draws from The Human League, Prince and Yazoo, combined with a more modern sound not that dissimilar to The Knife, her new single Quicksand out on the Kitsune label on Dec 15th shows plenty of promise. With a major label deal with Polydor in the bag and a support slot on the Lily Allen tour in March, La Roux can be expected to take her space age electro pop to the masses.

2009 may just be the year that the girls hit the dance floor hard and Breaking More Waves is predicting that La Roux will be one of the two girls leading the charge.

Here's the single.

Ones To Watch 2009

Every year Breaking More Waves breaks into a gypsy caravan, grabs the tea leaves and crystal ball down from a shelf and looks into the musical future.

Last year the Breaking More Waves Top 10 One’s To Watch was published just a couple of days before the BBC Sound of 2008 list and we found a remarkable similarity. This year however there was a certainty that the Breaking More Waves choices would be significantly different to the BBC list, until the BBC published their Sound of 2009 earlier than expected and we stared in horror as 6 of our choices were also on Auntie Beeb’s top 15, although these will be whittled down to 10 in January. However in defence the Breaking More Waves list has been ready for a month now, and there have been quite a few hints as to who we would feature in previous blogs.

Maybe the BBC is using the same crystal ball.

This year Breaking More Waves found it harder to compile a definitive list of ten. In 2007 we thought it was easy to pick Kate Nash (although the BBC didn’t), and in 2008 Adele, Glasvegas and Duffy were easy to spot as well. In other years Coldplay and Franz Ferdinand had hands up from Breaking More Waves, although our selections of bands such as Astronaut and Agnes may now seem to have had a lack of vision.

This year there are another eight to twelve acts that we could have selected for this list, but eventually some had to be discarded. Ten is a number that sounds right for lists. The Breaking More Waves Top 17 to Watch just doesn’t sound right, does it? However for those we have not included, many will be written about in forthcoming blogs after our Christmas holidays.

So for now, grab another mince pie and another glass of sherry, sit back and read about Breaking More Waves Top 10 One’s To Watch. One artist will be published each day, with the first coming in just a short while!

And next year we intend to put our list out right at the start of December before the BBC can muscle in.

Top 10 Albums of the Year and One's to Watch 2009

Well it’s that time of year when it seems that everyone in the world of popular culture publishes their best of list, and here at Breaking More Waves we are no different. Since back in the 90’s we’ve been publishing yearly best of lists, be it in our old paper fanzine or now on the internet.

And as the cliché says, hindsight is a wonderful thing. In choosing Radiohead’s OK Computer and Blur’s Parklife as the respective albums of the year in 1997 and 1994 we feel well vindicated. However our selection of Baby Bird’s There’s Something Going On in 1998 now seems a little odd. And then of course two years ago our album of the year wasn’t even an album, but a My Space page. We stand by that choice though. It was the musical place where we had received the most pleasure through repeated listens in 2006 and we were trying to make a small statement about where music was at that particular year.

So grab yourself an early mince pie, a glass of sherry and begin the count down to Christmas with Breaking More Waves by reading about our Top 10 Albums of the Year and Top 10 One’s to Watch. We’ve spent the last month mulling it over before coming up with the final list. It’s a good one. Or at least we think so. Where, if at all, will the popular press favourite artists such as MGMT, Vampire Weekend and The Kings Of Leon feature? Will the debuts by artists in my previous One’s to Watch in 2008 make an appearance ? Last year I went on record saying that Adele and Laura Marling would both be nominated for the Mercury prize, before anyone had even heard their albums. I was right there, but will their albums feature in my list? And will there be some on the list that make people go “What ?”. Remember that Britney Spears has been in our Top 10 album lists the same number of times as Radiohead, with 3 each !

And as for the One’s To Watch list, this year we did very well with 90% of those acts chosen either producing decent debut albums or having commercial success. Mind you, for the first time ever the BBC Sound Of list significantly mirrored our own. This year things may not be quite as similar. As far as Breaking More Waves is concerned there are no obvious choices like last years with Duffy, Adele and Glasvegas. Mind you, at least last year we didn’t pick Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong which so many pundits did. Idiots. Crap band, crap name, crap music.

So from the 1st December enjoy our countdown of the Top 10 Albums of the Year, followed by our Top 10 One’s To Watch for 2009. Let's just hope we can find the time to write a blog a day for twenty days! It's a challenge !

Little Boots - New Waves @ Breaking More Waves

As the year starts to close in various bloggers, journalists and commentators will be pondering on their albums of the year lists, and also their ‘One’s to watch in 2009’ lists. Readers of my old Myspace blog or even my old paper fanzine will know that I am also partial to these lists. Last year I was reasonably successful in predicting Glasvegas, The Ting Tings, Adele, Duffy, and Vampire Weekend being amongst those who would do well this year.

My 2009 list may be a bit more of a struggle, but one that is bound to be on there somewhere is electro cat Little Boots. Victoria Hesketh, former lead vocalist of indie synth rockers Dead Disco has been all over the blogosphere, but with some justification. From the Giorgio Moroder disco pulse of Stuck On Repeat to the Hot Chip bounce of Meddle, this lady has the songs, the hooks and the slightly geeky but sexy style to rise to the top. If you’ve used You Tube for any short length of time you will have no doubt come across some horrendous bedroom cover versions, but Little Boots has smothered those to sleep with some sensational covers of her own. Here are just one examples, as she uses a tenorion to cover Hot Chips Ready For The Floor. Then Little Boots playing one of her own songs with a variety of electronic gadgets on her own song Meddle.